PHOTO GALLERY (by Kris Fasnacht)
MINNETONKA, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (11-5, 3-3 NSIC) picked up a split to conclude the NSIC series against #15 St. Cloud State (16-5, 5-2 NSIC), falling 4-1 in the first game before a 2-1 win in game two at Veterans Field.
Senior right handed pitchers
John Hayes and
Colton Petron stepped up in the stopper role to salvage the split and avoid the weekend sweep.
The second game win also levels Concordia's NSIC record at 3-3.
Hayes was outstanding over 8.0 innings, allowing an unearned run on six hits with two walks to improve to 1-1. Petron finished off the Huskies for his first save of the year in a perfect inning on 15 pitches. On the year, Petron has yet to allow a hit over 6.1 innings with just one walk in four appearances.
In the four game series, Concordia's starting pitchers kept the Golden Bears close in each game with all four of them allowing two earned runs or less in each start.
GAME 1: SCSU 4, Concordia 1
Concordia struck first in the opening frame when sophomore
Ryan Poppitz delivered an RBI double down the right field line to score senior
Kyle Dalton from first.
Concordia held the 1-0 lead behind right handed pitcher
Tyler Brekke as the sophomore was efficient in setting down the Huskies and also pitched out of a couple of tough situations along the way. In the second, he induced a double play to eliminate a first and second, one out situation for SCSU and worked out of a second and third, two out scene in the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, senior
Brooks Beilke led off with a single to right and moved up on a
Drew Turk sacrifice. But Concordia couldn't push the run across in the inning and wouldn't get a runner on base the rest of the game, as the final 10 batters were retired by the Huskies.
With a 1-0 lead heading into the top of the fifth, the Huskies capitalized by reaching base safely on three consecutive infield errors in what turned into a three run inning before Brekke limited further damage.
He would be pulled in the sixth with no outs due to an undisclosed injury. He allowed one earned run among four total over his 5.0 innings while holding SCSU to just four hits after they piled up 31 in two games yesterday.
Sophomore right hander
Yuji Suzuki worked the final 2.0 innings in relief, only allowing one of Brekke's three runners to score. He didn't allow a hit or a walk in his appearance with one strikeout.
Concordia had three hits, coming from the 3-4-5 of the lineup as Poppitz, Beilke and Turk all went 1-3.
SCSU lefty Chris Kubitz picked up the win, moving to 3-0 with 5.0 innings allowing an unearned run with four strikeouts while reliever Reese Gregory recorded his third save over 2.0 scoreless innings.
GAME 2: Concordia 2, SCSU 1
Concordia and St. Cloud State each scored a run in the second inning with the Huskies getting an RBI single after a two base pickoff error for the only damage as an unearned run charged to Hayes.
Senior
Elliot Powell drove a double down the right field line with two outs to score
Doug Vanasek who drew a two out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Hayes would be in control for the rest of his stay on the hill as the Huskies only put a runner in scoring position once, coming in the seventh inning with two outs before he induced a fly out to short as sophomore
Eric Fasnacht made a running catch in left field to his right.
Concordia had its chances, however, leaving a runner on second in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the eighth, Concordia's offensive picked up a boost in the clutch. Dalton and Beilke each drew walks to put runners on first and second. With two outs, redshirt freshman
Joe Muench hit a chopper to the left side that was fielded at third base. Karl Sorensen missed the tag on Dalton at third to keep the inning alive.
Concordia head coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie turned to the bench as the lefty hitting freshman
Kevin Woebke came in to face Gregory, the SCSU closer who had yet to allow a run over 23 innings.
Woebke hit a hard chopper up the middle that was fielded by Kyle Lieser. His only play was to flip to second base where Muench slid safely just ahead of the throw as Woebke delivered the go-ahead RBI pinch hit infield single.
In the ninth, Petron set the Huskies down in order on 15 pitches for the win. Combined, Hayes and Petron only needed 105 pitches to complete the game.
Garrett Harrison went the first 5.2 innings for SCSU, allowing one run on five hits on 95 pitches. Gregory took the loss in 2.1 innings of relief. He struck out four on 43 pitches as Concordia scored on him for the first time in nine season appearances as he fell to 4-1 on the year.
Dalton had Concordia's only 2-hit performance of the weekend, going 2-3 with his fifth stolen base.
Beilke went 1-3 with a walk as he had a hit in each game of the series. Concordia's DH-spot in the order produced a pair of hits as Vanasek went 1-2 with a walk and a run while Woebke was 1-1 with an RBI.
Concordia continues conference play with six schedule games in the upcoming week. With all six games slated for Barnes Field, first on Wednesday against Minnesota Duluth (DH) followed by a four game series with doubleheaders against Winona State next weekend.
Continue to visit
cugoldenbears.com/baseball as field conditions and weather forecasts leave uncertainty surrounding the upcoming schedule.
